Published: 1/14/2021 1:29:54 PM
AMHERST Before a syringe containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was administered to Amherst Fire Chief Walter “Tim” Nelson this week, competition likely occurred among the department’s firefighter/ EMTs to deliver the shot.
“I think there may have been a pool from my guys to see who could stick the needle in me,” Nelson said, chuckling about that possibility moments after he received the injection from Fire Capt. Steven Chandler at the first responders vaccination clinic set up at the Bangs Community Center in Amherst.
But joking aside, Nelson said the weeklong delivery of vaccines to first responders throughout the region in Amherst, at the Northampton Senior Center and on the University of Massachusetts campus, which comes after initial vaccinations given at hospitals, nursing homes and extended care facilities, is a critical step in ending the pandemic.
4 months ago in Local Denise Vozella Photo: WHMP
(Undated) The number of newly confirmed coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts rose by 71 Wednesday while the number of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased by more than 5,400. The Moderna COVID vaccine, developed in Cambridge Massachusetts appears to be safe and highly effective. Health and Human Services Secreatary Alex Azar says that’s the conclusion of a preliminary FDA analysis. An expert panel will publicly review the shot on Thursday, and clearance from the FDA is expected soon afterward. While some people are expresssing skepticism over the vaccine safety, Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle has no such reservations. LaChapelle says she would get the vaccine today if it were available to the general public. Frontline health care workers at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Baystate Health hospitals and Mercy Medical Center are bei